The sheer volume of Stargate dwarfs Battlestar Galactica and makes any fair comparison difficult at best, but they do share several things in common.

Military Scifi

Both Stargate and Battlestar Galactica are military scifi series that pit the human race against a hostile alien force that threatens to destroy the human race.

The biggest difference between the two settings regarding the struggle to protect the human race is:

Stargate focused on the hope that ingenuity, courage, and comradery would find a way to save humanity.

Battlestar Galactica focused on hopelessness. Humanity was too full of greed, cowardice, and backbiting to save itself.

I know a lot of people are going to challenge my characterization of Battlestar Galactica, but its portrayal of human frailty in its many forms constantly brought the colonists to the brink of doom. While that added to the drama and tension of the series, it made most of the characters into melodramatic stereotypes who arrogantly or ignorantly put their own petty wants and needs ahead of the survival of their people.

I am not saying that is a bad thing, it is the way the show is. In fact, Scifi marketed of the spacey soap opera quality of the show.

While Battlestar Galactica focused on melodrama, Stargate focused more on character and military actions, tactics, and research.

Both series dealt primarily with characters in the military, but their use of the military was very different:

Battlestar Galactica's post apocalyptic setting forced the military into a struggle between democracy and military dictatorship.

Stargate's top secret setting forced the military into a struggle between open government and black ops.

Battlestar Galactica contained reactionary military action where they were more often than not in a defensive stance.

Stargate contained balanced military action where they were on the offensive as often as the defensive.

Characterization

For me, this is where Stargate moves ahead of Battlestar Galactica.

Stargate focused on individual characters with their own hopes, merits, flaws, and detailed back stories.

I am the kind of person who loves a good character, and for me the characters in Stargate are much more well rounded and interesting. With the exception of O'neil, I cannot think of a character that I wouldn't mind seeing an entire series about. The stories about each character really interested me, especially in how they interacted and affected the others.

Battlestar Galactica had many interesting characters too, but I never felt they went into the depth they need to have for me to completely fall in love with them. Starbuck was my favorite, as was Adama, but I didn't feel like they revealed enough about them until the season finale.

I suppose the easiest way to understand what I am saying is that to get a good perspective on a character, I like to see them, both under stress and at rest, maybe even at play to get a full picture of who that character is. I never felt like Battlestar Galactica allowed for that.

The lack of Science Fiction

Neither series could be considered Science Fiction, they are Scifi.

Science Fiction is a genre where science is integral to the plot, and both series rely heavily on technology that has little connection with actual science. That is not a bad thing, but if you are looking for a series that takes science seriously, Stargate comes closest, but neither really is.

Plot Arcs

A major difference between the two series is how they treat plot arcs.

Battlestar Galactica outlined its plot arcs into perpetuating continued stories.

Again, this is where Stargate moves ahead of Battlestar Galactica.

While I watched Battlestar Galactica, I never felt like the series went anywhere. There was no sense of accomplishment. I found it impossible to get emotionally attracted to any of the characters because I knew that anything good that happened to them would quickly be undone.

I know that many were able to get over this, but I like a series with triumphs and defeats and Battlestar Galactica was for the most part a collections of defeats with triumphs few and far between.

With Stargate, I was able to become emotionally attached with the characters and share in their gains and losses.

The Basic Difference

In the end, we end where we began:

Battlestar Galactica is a military telenovella set is space.

Stargate is a military scifi action series.

So, which is better?

That is a matter of taste and for me mood. When you compare the two series, you have to find the show that best fits you.

Stargate

Battlestar Galactica

spans 3 series (soon to be 4), 16 seasons, 340 episodes and 3 movies (soon to be 5)

spans 1 series (soon to be 2), 4 seasons, 77 episodes (if you count the miniseries as 2), and 1 movie (if you count Razor)

focused on the hope that ingenuity, courage, and comradery would find a way to save humanity

focused on hopelessness. Humanity was too full of greed, cowardice, and backbiting to save itself

top secret setting forced the military into a struggle between open government and black ops

post apocalyptic setting forced the military into a struggle between democracy and military dictatorship

contained balanced military action where they were on the offensive as often as the defensive

contained reactionary military action where they were more often than not in a defensive stance

focused on individual characters with their own hopes, merits, flaws, and detailed back stories

focused on groups with prominent individuals whose flaws endanger society as a whole

Camile Wray rules Stargate Universe

I was more than a little concerned when I heard Ming Na's character Camile Wray on Stargate Universe was going to be a lesbian. The instant homophobic reaction was not a surprise but the way SGU handles not only her character but the topic of sexuality in general is fascinating.

Sexuality on SGU

The Destiny is millions or billions of light years from Earth, so the crew has to use the Ancient Communication Stones to talk to their loved ones. As a result, the crew are not in their own bodies. This raises some interesting questions about fidelity, since one of those intimate encounters lead to an affair between Everett Young's estranged wife and Colonel David Telford (whose body he used).

But as she always does, Ming Na's Camile steals the show. Her relationship is one of the realist and most touching on the series thus far. I can only assume this is a result of the acting and the fact the writers knew everything Camile does would be scrutinized by people like me.

Camile Wray is probably one of the best written GLBT characters on TV since Queer as Folk or Buffy the Vampire Slayer went off the air.

Camile's World View

Camile like so many of my GLBT sisters and brothers has a skepticism about anything people say in front of her, and she doesn't feel included in the heterocentric world she finds herself trapped in.

She has learned how to stand up for herself and follow the path she believes is best, not the path given to her.

Camile will not be excluded

I am not sure if it was intentional or just the lucky happenstance of plot, but Camile's main struggle on the Destiny is to make sure her voice is not only heard but respected. This is a struggle not unfamiliar to the GLBT community. We are used to being patted on the head like a good pet and ignored when the time comes.

The IOA may have introduced a request that will make this internal fight and overt one when they asked Camile to insinuate herself as the voice of authority on the Destiny.

This is something that would have happened whether or not the IOA asked. Young is a weak, ineffective, and compromised leader. Sooner or later, someone would have risen up to fill the void. That would have been either Camile or Rush, but with him out of the picture, Camile's only real rival is Eli unless Yong really steps it up,

Finally someone like me

I am so excited to finally see someone like me in a Scifi show. One good GLBT character is a start. (I know some of you probably just screamed out Sam Adama from Caprica... but that is another post)

Camile Wray is the character to watch on SGU. I expect to see her try to win Eli over to her camp soon, and set everything in motion for the crew to see her as the rightful leader of the Destiny. She is the kingmaker, she might even get Young to see her as his best choice to build morale among the crew. She has something to lose if she doesn't get home, and she will focus on that goal and find a way to make it happen.

The Reaction to a Lesbian in Stargate Universe

I want to start by saying that not all of the reaction to the news of an openly gay character on Stargate Universe has been negative. Many fans of the series have stood up to the bigotry that is spiraling around the internet. It is not necessary to respond to positive statements, but it is incumbent on me to respond to the negative ones.
I have decided to use comments from Scifi Wire because they have be responcible enough to remove the most vile, incendiary, and hateful comments from their site. These are some of the mild ones that remain.

Homophobia

Homophobia is the hatred, fear, stereotyping of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and the transgendered. "Homophobia is just another form of sexism. For most people, their problem with GLBT people is that we do not fit nicely into the culturally acceptable gender roles assigned to us (Where is the Diversity in IDIC?)."

There are five main flavors of Homophobia exhibited in the comments:

Blatant Sexism

Incomprehension

Fear and Ridicule

Hetero-centrism

Vile Hate

Blatant Sexism

Creno demonstrates this problem well:

Woot! Hot lesbo action FTW! Let's see them make out. Make it happen guys (Scifi Wire).

The equation of a lesbian character with a perverse, masturbatory fantasy is a huge problem in our society. The notion that we are reducing a human down to nothing more than an object of puerile desire is repugnant!

The biggest problem with this comment is that they wanting their own ego stroked, and if the character were heterosexual, they would still be calling for meaningless sex for their own titilation.

Hopefully, the writers of the series will treat the character with more respect, and not succumb to the base lusts that would cheapen the series and rob it of the moral character the franchise has exhibted up to now.

Women are people and deserve respect regardless of their sexual orientation!

Incomprehension

Zaphod said:

I wonder why shows never announce characters who are "openly black" or "openly hispanic" or "openly heterosexual (Scifi Wire)?"

Most of the characters on Stargate (and all series) are assumed to be heterosexual.

Starting in the 1960's, many characters were "openly black" or "openly hispanic" for the first time and were announced as such. For decades, shows have incorporated characters dealing with racism or what it means to be an ethnic minority in society. While there have not been enough, they do exist.

Among the actors I have met, one of the most common complaints I hear is that their are not enough "Openly Female" or "Openly Asian" characters for them to play.

We need more honest portrayals of minority characters on Television and film, not less.

Fear and Ridicule

Someone claiming to be Warwick Sabin said:

Geez. Just change the name to "Stargay Universe" and be done with it.

The best would be if the other gay character was male and the two of them are the only ones on the show without anyone to hook up with.

Why not introduce an asexual character or someone who is a chronic masturbator (Scifi Wire)?

Really, Stargay Universe is the only thing you could think of to say?

First of all, it would be just as likely that the heterosexual characters would find themselves dealing with loneliness in a galaxy far, far away as it would for the homosexual characters.

Personally, I hope they treat the character with the same respect as they do the other characters. The franchise has never been about sex, but relationships have always played an important part.

The real Warwick Sabin contacted me disgusted about this comment:

Someone used my name to post the idiotic comment you quoted in your blog post.

I am very distressed about this, because the comment is disgusting and is the polar opposite of anything I would ever think or express.

It is lower than low that someone would attack another's honor and good name to say such vile things.

Hetero-centrism

Chris Shea said:

i personally dont wants gays in my shows but i dont want straight people either
i want peopel doign there job saving the world killing aliens helping people
cmon in 10 years of sg-1 there was barely any love stuff
they implied it and it was enought (Scifi Wire)

I bet none of the people upset about a lesbian on the show were upset about them flaunting Jack, Daniel, Carter, and Teal'c flaunting their sexuality, all of which played into the story.

Jack O'Neill was married and the death of his son is the reason he became involved in the Stargate Program. Not to mention his relationship with Carter and a couple aliens.

Daniel Jackson's wife was the only reason he continued his work with the SGC.

Shyla

Ke'ra/Linea

Sarah Gardner/Osiris.

Vala Mal Doran

Samantha "Sam" Carter had many relationships that played heavily into the plot arcs of the series.

Jack O'Neill

the Tok'ra Martouf

Orlin

Agent Malcolm Barrett

Narim

Pete Shanahan

Dr. Jay Felger

Jonas Hanson (her former fiancé)

Joseph Faxon (her husband of a possible future)

Teal'c's relationships with:

His wife Drey'auc

Shau'nac the temple priestess

Ishta the leader of the Hak'tyl

Vala Mal Doran was the most sexual character on the show

I haven't even finished with the major characters in SG-1, not to mention Atlantis. There was a lot of love stories in SG-1 and Atlantis. If one of the characters is gay, I can't imagine it being any different.

Vile Hate

Facepalm chose to attack the Mentally Challenged!

If nothing else sells your show, then bring in the lesbians.

I wonder when the Stargate Universe will introduce the first openly retarded character? Part of the Stargate initiative for the better integration of the mentally challenged into the work force, this openly dumb person will be in charge major decision throughout the entirety of the series.

Executive producer Brad Wright pointed out: "We no longer only depict villains, played by black actors in alien rubber costumes, as mentally deficient, we want to raise awareness for general stupidity anywhere. Our team of highly skilled writers is looking forward to the groundbreaking shift of paradigms a retard will bring to the show (Scifi Wire)."

My neice has Down's Syndrome. Personally, I would love to see Stargate or any series feature a reallistic portrayal on someone like her. Anything that would make a good story should be considered.

What does this mean for fandom?

It means we have a lot of work to do. Science Ficition is a genre that is suppose to be about IDIC: Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combination, progress, and Making a better world. The mere fact that people with such bigoted opinions can call themselves fans means that the writers have not been doing their job.

In the seventh episode, we will meet Camille Wray's (Ming-Na) long-time partner Sharon.

If this episode airs as planned, then this will be the first time an openly gay character will appear on a major Scifi show.

Gay in Scifi

The Producers of Stargate Atlantis conceived of several characters as Gay, but that was never revealed to the audience on the show.

Battlestar Gallactica used its webseries to insert a gay character, but that was not incorporated in to the main series.

Knight Rider's producers neutered their lesbian character after the pilot.

I assume that Vincent on Eureka is gay, though I only have hints to go on.

Fears for Stargate Universe

I am concerned that this choice means that Camille Wray may be fated to die in season 1.

Why? It is standard practice in Speculative Fiction movies and television to introduce a gay character, and then kill them. Remember Willow and Tara from Buffy the Vampire Slayer?

Hopefully, Camille Wray will be a fully realized character in the series and not the product of an over active male fantasy. Only time will tell.

This is a bold move for Stargate Universe, and I hope they announce or better reveal on the show who the other gay character on the series is. It is about time for the GLBT community to see themselves represented in Scifi.

I have high hopes that Brad Wright and his team will do a good job with incorporating a gay character into the series. I am a huge fan of SG-1 and Atlantis. I am more worried that the Syfy network will mess it up.

Stargate Universe overview and Robert Carlyle talks

Scifi Wire published a short interview with Robert Carlyle (here) who will play Dr Nicholas Rush in the new spin off Stargate Universe.

In the preamble to the very short interview, they include one of the clearest descriptions of the new series I have ever seen:

Stargate Universe follows the adventures of explorers who start off on a reconnaissance mission to the Destiny, a ship built by the Ancients, only to wind up on a never-ending mission when the crew learns the ship can't return to Earth. The Destiny, her crew in tow but not actually in control of the ship, then traverses the universe, bringing them in contact with new worlds and various races, as well as potential allies and enemies (SCI FI Wire).

Many have compared Stargate Universe to Star Trek Voyager, but I am not so sure. I am actually getting a strong Farscape vibe from it. Why?

The Destiny

According to Robert Carlyle:

I think this one, while it's retaining the features that made the other ones successful, hopefully, it's slightly different in the respect that this is about a struggle for survival. The guys, everyone's been transferred onto this massive spaceship, the Destiny. They think it's actually a planet, because it's so big (SCI FI Wire).

Let's add up the pieces here. The Destiny was:

Built by the ancients for an unknown reason

Traveling the Universe according to its own will

It is the size of a planet

It is called, The Destiny

This sounds to me like a Death Star sized Moya built by the ancients to either:

defeat an enemy as strong as or stronger than the Ori

provide a future for the ancients or their allies either as:

an alternative to ascension

a sentry to protest the galaxy in their absence.

Who is Nicholas Rush?

Robert Carlyle describes his character as:

He's a scientist. He's kind of the head of this project. They have discovered the address of the Ninth Chevron, and the Ninth Chevron is like the Holy Grail. So you're never sure with Rush whether he's doing it for the right reasons, whether he's doing it for the Stargate team or for himself (SCI FI Wire).

This strikes me as a cross between Daniel Jackson, Rodney McKay, and Dr Zachary Smith from the Lost in Space movie. I am more concerned about the character of Rush and how they handle him.

Reviewing Stargate Continuum

Stargate: Continuum was a fun but not great movie. Fans of Stargate will love the opportunity to play once again in the setting. We get to see both the old and new SG-1 in action and even together. The pace was ok but the story was overly formulaic. Since the story was dealing with an alternate timeline they had the advantage to explore characters and setting elements that were already resolved in a new manner. This was one of the things that originally excited me about the idea of this movie. Unfortunately they take little time before abusing this liberty to the degree that I no longer cared. It's sad to think, that even knowing that they could and would change things, at first I was pleasantly surprised only to grow board and uncaring by the end. I'm kind of disappointed with this movie since Stargate: The Ark of Truth was so good and this one so meh. All of that said it was still a fun movie and worth watching especially for fans of Stargate. If you are not a fan than please do yourself a favor and start with the Directors Cut of the Original Move or Stargate Season One.

Plot / Story: SG1 including General Jack O'Neill go to watch the extraction ceremony for Ba'al the last of the Goa'uld system lords. During the ceremony Ba'al warns them that attempting his execution will activate his failsafe plan. Then people start to disappear including Vala & Teal'c. The remaning SG1 team runs for the stargate and ends up in the alternate timeline where Ba'al has successfully prevented the Stargate from reaching the U.S. Military.

Likes

The Idea that Ba’al would have a contingency plan and what it was.

getting to watch the bombardment of earth.

Watching Vala do what she does.

Dislikes / Concerns

Very formulaic.

With being an alternate time line it lost some of it's tension this was reinforced with the willy nilly manner they go about killing off main characters. It was a shock at first but then it got old quickly and it lost it's punch.